A Warning About Overconfidence - Matthew 26:31-35

©Copyright January 28, 2018 Rev. Bruce Goettsche

Failure. None of wants to apply that word to our life. We live in a society that rewards success and achievement. And we are not the only society to have done so.

One of the hardest things I found with a divorce was accepting that sense of failure. No one goes into marriage expecting to fail. Likewise, no one heads to school thinking about failing. No one starts a business planning to go bankrupt. No one has children with the thought that one of their children will choose to renounce everything the family believes leading them to feel like they must have failed. No one takes on a task believing it is something they cannot handle. No one joins a church thinking they will drift away and fail in the vows they made before the congregation. And no one embraces Christ as Savior and Lord anticipating they will ever turn against Him.

This is the issue we face today. Jesus has been with His disciples for better than 3 years. He taught them, ministered to them, and lived with them. He poured His life into these guys. They have all grown to love each other. Unfortunately, Jesus knows Judas will not be the only one who turns his back on Him. He knows all the disciples are going to turn away from Him to one degree or another.

31On the way, Jesus told them, “Tonight all of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,

‘God will strike* the Shepherd,

and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

32But after I have been raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.”

33Peter declared, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I will never desert you.”

34Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

35“No!” Peter insisted. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the other disciples vowed the same.

Jesus has already told the disciples that one of them would betray Him. Now he tells them all of them are going to desert him. He quoted the Old Testament as evidence that God knew all along this would happen.

The disciples were offended. They were confident of their love for Jesus. They were loyal and dedicated to their Master. Their intention was to be loyal. What they did not realize was their desire for self-preservation was stronger than their love for Jesus. When they had to choose between standing with Christ or preserving themselves, they chose to protect themselves. It is likely we would be very tempted to do the same.

Peter, (whose birth name was Simon) was one of the leaders of the disciples, he was know for being outspoken and impulsive. He spoke up and said, in essence, “Lord, I don’t know about these other guys (he may have had his reservations about some of the other guys) but what I do know is this: I would NEVER desert you.”

To drive home the point, Jesus was very specific. He told Peter that he would specifically deny Him three times before morning came. What Peter probably should have said was, “No, Lord, give me strength so I will not do this!” But what He said was: “I would die with you before I would deny you.” Every other disciple said the same thing! Peter is known as the disciple who denied Jesus . . . But all of them deserted Him. We are only told Peter’s story.

We will see that when they were all in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus warned them again that the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. He urged them to pray and to pray fervently. They instead fell asleep.

What we see here is a glaring example of overconfidence. It is like the person who says,

I can handle it

I would never get divorced

I will never be fired

I would never text and drive

I would never cheat on my spouse

I would never betray my friend

I would never deny my Lord

We have supreme confidence in our strength. But we are all much weaker than we think we are. The sinful nature is strong. We do not see clearly how deeply stained we are.

This text is made more difficult when we read Luke’s account. He records the words of Jesus,

31“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. 32But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.”

Lk 22:31–32.

The passage raises a bunch of questions. However, the biggest question for us is very difficult: If Satan has to ask permission to test us, why does God say “Yes?”

The same issue is raised by the book of Job. God told Satan how proud he was of Job and Satan responded, “He’s loyal because you are giving him everything he wants. It is easy to be loyal when life is easy.” God then allowed Satan to attack Job viciously. Why would God do this? It makes it look like God is just playing a game and we are the pieces.

To be honest, the only thing I can wrap my head around is God allows the assaults because He knows we need trials to deepen our roots and our relationship with Him. As long as things are easy, we are quite content to just drift along. We go to church, pick up our Bible now and again, and hang out with others who call themselves Christians. We consider ourselves strong, mature, and a prize among God’s saints. However, our roots are actually shallow. Unless we are tested, they will remain shallow.

If you talk to people who have been through great trials they will often tell you how much their faith grew during that time. When they were at their weakest point they had to trust most fully. And that is when they found the Lord to be most faithful. That has certainly been my experience. I’m not sure that answers all my (or your) questions but that’s all I have for now.

When you combine these two accounts in Matthew and Luke we learn (or are reminded) of several things.

We are in a Spiritual Battle

In Ephesians 6 Paul writes,

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

In 2 Corinthians Paul wrote

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)

Jesus several times called Satan the ruler of this world (John 12:23, 14:30, 16:11). He frequently cast out demons that were attacking people. The point is there is a spiritual war going on and we are a part of that war even though we do not see it.

We are in a fight we cannot fight on our own. We need HELP! In Ephesians 6 Paul tells us to put on the full Armor of God. He summons us to use the tools God has given us. Only a fool goes arrogantly into this battle.

Christ has Authority Over Satan

Let’s note again that Satan had to ask permission to test the disciples. We are confused as to why God allowed this but . . . don’t miss the significance of Satan having to ask permission: God and Satan are not two equals! This is the King battling one of His princes. This King is All-powerful; the Prince is not. The King is all-knowing; the prince is not. There is a spiritual battle going on but there is no doubt as to who is going to win the battle!

Our job is to stay close to the Lord. The closer we are to Him the more secure we will be. Satan may have permission to test us and push us to the limit (which God uses to help us grow) but He does not have permission to defeat us. This is a truth we can (and should) hang on to when we are going through a time of testing. Daniel Doriani writes,

The devil didn’t demand, resolve, or decide. He asked. Just as he requested permission to tempt Job, he requested permission to tempt Simon Peter. Sort of recasts our image of the old snake, doesn’t it? Instead of the mighty Darth Vader of Gloom, a better caricature is a skinny, back-alley punk who acts tough, but ducks fast when God flexes. “Uh, uh . . . I’d . . . uh . . . like to do a number on Peter—that is, if you don’t mind.” The chain of command is clear. Satan does nothing outside of God’s domain, and God uses Satan to advance the cause of his kingdom.1

God does not leave us to fend for ourselves. He has given us the tools we need: the Word of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, the intercession of Christ, the fellowship of the Christian community . . . But we must use the tools He has given!

Our Lord is Praying for Those Who Belong to Him

Jesus told Peter, “I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31)

Romans 8:26 tells us

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. Bur the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”

Hebrews 7:24-25 tells us

because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save* those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

The Lord is actively monitoring our lives. He is interceding for us. I don’t know exactly what that means but I know the Lord gets what He asks for. No matter what the test, we do not face it alone.

We still have a question: if Jesus was praying, and He always is successful in His intercession, why did the disciples still desert the Lord? The answer is: we must learn what He desires us to learn. Sometimes we learn the easy way (by doing what He says) and sometimes we learn the hard way (by trying to do things in our own strength).

In Luke, Jesus talked about when Peter “repented”. In Matthew, the Lord says they will all desert Him but, after the resurrection He was going to meet them in Galilee. Don’t miss this! The desertion of the disciples will not be final. They will not lose their place in the Kingdom because they stubbed their toe. The Lord would see them through. They would be better because of their experience.

Do you wonder if this whole experience made the disciples a little more tolerant of those who struggled in their faith? I suspect it humbled them. Humility is necessary to serve God in a bold and effective way.

The trial you may be going through will not defeat you if you belong to Him. Hold on tight. Continue to trust Him like the Biblical examples did. He will not disappoint you. Even if you stumble it is not the end of the story. We can learn from our failures just like we learn from our victories.

Conclusions

Let me draw some conclusions from this text. What should we take away from this historical narrative? We must be humble and aware of our weakness. The disciples walked and talked with Jesus. They witnessed everything first hand . . . and still they denied Him! That reminds us of our own weakness in the flesh. The believer is given the Holy Spirit, but His power will work in us only when we stop fighting in our own strength and choose to fight in His.

Prepare diligently. The Bible (especially Paul) talks to us about training. It tells us we must be in a constant state of readiness. Complacency is deadly. The lazy believer is the vulnerable believer. Our adversary is very competent. He will exploit our weaknesses. He will attack the area where we think we “can handle things”. We must continue to work at being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It is in HIS strength that we can stand.

Trust Confidently. The thing you notice about the great people of the Bible is the way they held on in trust even in the times of great trial.

Abraham believed God even though it seemed there was no way he and Sarah could have a baby.

Joseph continued to serve and honor God even though all the circumstances seemed to be going against Him.

Job continued to trust the goodness and justice of God even though he lost everything and his friends attacked him.

Daniel along with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego all stood their ground even though they were threatened with death.

Jeremiah proclaimed God’s faithfulness even as he wandered through the wreckage of Jerusalem.

Paul praised the Lord in jail, when stoned, beaten, shipwrecked or sick and incapacitated.

We could of course continue the list on through the Reformation and through times of persecution in our present day. People have given their lives confident that NOTHING will separate us from His love.

Max Lucado writes,

God has kept no secrets. He has told us that, while on this yellow brick road, we will experience trouble. Disease will afflict bodies. Divorce will break hearts. Death will make widows and devastation will destroy countries. We should not expect any less. But just because the devil shows up and cackles, we needn’t panic. “In [this] world you will have tribulation,” Jesus promises, “but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 nkjv).

Our Master speaks of an accomplished deed. “I have overcome the world.” It is finished. The battle is over. Be alert. But don’t be alarmed. The witch has no power. The manuscript has been published. The book has been bound. Satan is loosed for a season, but the season is oh-so-brief. The devil knows this. “He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short” (Rev. 12:12 niv)[i]

If we trust in circumstances, if we choose what is easy, if we rely on our feelings . . . we are falling right into the hands of our enemy.

Perhaps you, like the disciples (and me), have failed miserably. Don’t forget the rest of the story! Jesus forgave these men. They learned from their failures and became powerful servants of that same Lord they deserted. They grew from their failures. They stopped trusting their own wisdom and ability and instead learned to trust Him. All but one of those men (tradition said John died a natural death exiled on an island) gave their lives for their master. They did not desert Him again.

So, if you have failed, admit your failure. Seek His forgiveness. Then learn your lesson, dust yourself off, and rely on His strength as you fight with the Lord against the Devil and the powers of darkness. If you belong to Him, you may get knocked down . . . but you cannot be defeated. Satan is strong. The Lord is stronger . . . much much stronger. Thanks be to God!

[i] Max Lucado, When Christ Comes: The Beginning of the Very Best (Nashville, TN: Word Pub., 1999), 94–95.